Good posture is an important element for maintaining optimal health and wellbeing. Good posture aids in recovery following injury and assists with growth and development. Correct posture contributes greatly to appearance and it can have a significant impact upon self esteem and general fitness. For many people, adopting good postural habits is difficult. Issues with maintaining good posture such as awareness of body position, muscle strength and endurance may present difficulties for people who are going through the process of changing their posture.
There are many different types of posture training devices including those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,480 and International patent application number WO 91/06082. Both of these posture devices provide feedback to a user when correct posture is not being maintained. Both of these devices provide the feedback on specific areas of a person's body. However, generally when a person's breastbone is lifted vertically then a person's posture will be correct. Neither of these prior art documents address this aspect of good posture.
Applicant's co-pending Australian patent application number 67103/01 describes a posture training device. This posture training device includes a signalling unit that is attached at one end to a waist strap with the other end of the signalling device attached to a pair of shoulder straps. This posture training device operates very effectively to provide feedback on a person's posture when they are at a front facing position. However, when rotation of the body occurs the shoulder straps can cause activation of the signalling unit due to movement of a person's shoulders. This can become annoying for a wearer so that they discontinue wearing the posture training device. Further, a person can become confused thinking they are not maintaining a good posture when in fact they are.